OTTAWA — Noovo Montreal’s early evening broadcast in February of an episode of Mon ex à moi featuring sexually explicit scenes breached the Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ (CAB) Code of Ethics and the classification provision of the CAB Violence Code, says a decision released today by the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC).
Mon ex à moi is a comedic drama about the love lives of young adults. Aired on February 22, 2021 at 7:30 p.m. ET, the episode in question was rated 13+ and had viewer advisories alerting to “mature scenes or themes”.
The episode contained sexual conversations and sex scenes between a couple, in which the sexual acts were obvious and demonstrative despite the camera angles preventing the viewer from seeing genitalia, says a CBSC press release.
A viewer complained the episode was too explicit for that time of day when children could be watching, says the release. Noovo pointed out it had broadcast a viewer advisory and a classification icon, but it decided not to rebroadcast that particular episode after receiving the viewer complaint.
“The CBSC French-Language Panel examined the complaint under Clauses 10 and 11 of the CAB Code of Ethics. It concluded that the episode contained sexually explicit material which should only have been broadcast after 9:00 p.m. as required by Clause 10 of the code. It also concluded that the advisories should have specifically mentioned sexual content as required by Clause 11. With respect to the 13+ classification, the Panel concluded that it should have been 16+ under the categories outlined in the CAB Violence Code. Noovo failed to display the classification icon for a full 15 seconds as required by the code,” reads the CBSC’s press release.
Noovo is now required to do the following: announce the CBSC’s decision in audio and video format, once during prime time within three days following the release of this decision and once more within seven days following the release of this decision during the time period in which Mon ex à moi was broadcast, but not on the same day as the first mandated announcement; within 14 days following the broadcasts of the announcements, provide written confirmation of the airing of the statement to the complainant who filed the ruling request; and at that time, provide the CBSC with a copy of that written confirmation and with air check copies of the broadcasts of the two announcements.
For more, please click here. The CBSC’s full decision can be found here.
